City of Lubbock offers paid summer apprenticeships in field services

LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) - The City of Lubbock is offering paid apprenticeship opportunities through its Field Services Summer Program, which stems from the Lubbock City Council’s focus on job training when allocating funds from the American Rescue Plan Act.

“We hope to be able to get some young people in, and over a seven-week period, expose them to things maybe they haven’t seen before,” City Manager Jarrett Atkinson said. “It’s going to be a paid program. It would be just like having a part time job. The difference is, for seven weeks, it is a 40 hour-a-week program.”

Atkinson told KCBD around 35 to 40 young adults, ages 17 to 21, will be chosen to shadow and work with city staff from the following departments:

• Facilities Management
• Codes
• Parks and Recreation
• Fleet
• Public Works

“Think about our fleet program, we have over 2,300 pieces inside of our fleet operation,” Atkinson said. “Those have to be bought. When they’re done with, they have to be sold. They have to be maintained, we got to keep what you see out on the streets going. Public works, streets, alleys, to pipeline divisions, parks and recreation, we’re gonna get to show them as much of that, as we can, in a seven-week period.”

Atkinson said about $135,000 was set aside for this program. Participants will earn around $12.64 per hour from June 12 to July 28.

The high school students or recent high school graduates will all gather on Fridays for lunch and hear from longtime City of Lubbock employees who started in field-level jobs and are now leading the departments.

The program not only aims to fill vacancies, which Atkinson says are higher than normal, but to build a pipeline of talent to come after an aging workforce.

“As those people retire, number one, we thank them,” Atkinson said. “They’ve done a phenomenal job for us for a long time, but it’s opportunity for those who are ready to get started in their career.”

That career could start soon after the participants complete the program.

“I absolutely expect on that very last Friday, when they get their final paycheck from the program, we’re going to shake their hand and thank them and I’m going to put a job application with them, right then. I would love to have them.”

To learn more about the program and for the application, click here. The deadline to apply is May 12.

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